Police in Alaska’s largest city are reaching out to the public to see if people can provide new leads in the disappearance nine years ago of a 6-year-old boy. DeShawn
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Anchorage police seek new leads in missing child cold case
Police in Alaska’s largest city are reaching out to the public to see if people can provide new leads in the disappearance nine years ago of a 6-year-old boy.
DeShawn McCormick’s mother said she last saw her son in the spring of 2013 during a visit to Alaska. She had previously moved out-of-state, and DeShawn’s father, Floyd L. Lee Jr., had legal custody and lived with the child in Alaska.
It was discovered that DeShawn was missing when later that year his father and his father's girlfriend were arrested by the FBI on unrelated securities fraud charges and a court granted DeShawn's mother custody of the boy.
Law enforcement officials, however, were unable to find DeShawn and said there was no indication that any other child other than the girlfriend’s two children were living at the home the father and girlfriend shared. Authorities determined DeShawn hadn't been seen or heard from since April 2013.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists the boy’s disappearance date as April 1, 2013. The FBI was the initial investigating agency, and the Anchorage Police Department got the case Feb. 10, 2014.
“This case is unique being the length of time that DeShawn has not been seen,” Police Detective Dave Cordie told reporters on Thursday.
However, he said there are success stories of children being found after long absences.
“I’ve seen cases 15, 20 years they’ve been found. We always hold out hope,” Cordie said.
